Rwandalust! A Kigali Good Time in PDX

On Friday, March 16th 2012, around 40 people joined us at the Stumptown Annex in Portland to cup a truly lovely surfeit of Rwandan coffee. Old friends, first time cuppers, and people we’ve never met before gathered together to wait patiently in line and take their pass through a packed cupping table, featuring 15 coffees from 14 different roasters scattered across the United States. Out of respect for the evening’s informal and democratic atmosphere, we’re not going to name favorites or share direct quotes; we’ll be doing more events like this throughout 2012, so please, come join us and we can talk about the coffees together.

We’re happy to say that every last coffee we tried was accessible, from dark to light. No potato! Individual stand-outs were solely a matter of palate, with some favoring balance and nuance and others gravitating towards the notable juice bombs on the table. Liam and Hayley from the Stumptown Annex were gracious hosts and air-traffic controllers for a line that spiraled all the way around the room.

All of the coffees were donated by their respective roasters, and thank you very much to you all. We’ll arrange this like a nice wine menu, because that’s kind of what it felt like. Each coffee is listed exactly as labeled on the bag; note the different spacings of “Bufcafe” and the inclusion of Co-Op designation. All coffees listed are from Rwanda, and we’ve included quick-buying links. Here’s a complete list of the coffees we enjoyed.